According to a Guardian report, Bailey said: “The company has sought and received formal written confirmation from senior editorial executives across both the nationals and regionals , that since the commencement of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act in October 2000 and whilst an employee of the group they have not nor, to their knowledge, have any of their staff or anyone on their behalf, intercepted any telephone messages, made payments to serving police officers or accessed the police national computer.”

She also said: “There have been a number of completely unsubstantiated allegations made against our titles with no evidence to support them.”